Jerry Jones once discarded coaches like Kleenex. Now he's trying to make Jason Garrett the next Tom Landry.

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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones signs autographs for fans before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, in Seattle. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)

Kevin Sherrington, sports columnist for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered your questions in a recent live chat. Here are some highlights, edited for clarity:

(Editor's note: Chat took place prior to Cowboys parting ways with Scott Linehan.)

Is Jeff Heath a starting safety on the Cowboys next season?

Kevin Sherrington: Good question. Sure seems like they could upgrade there. Earl Thomas is available. Not sure he still wants to play for the Cowboys, and I don't know if they're still interested at his age and what his salary commands. They've got to save some cap space for all their own guys. But assuming he's healthy and willing, Thomas is still a really good safety. They'd have Pro Bowl caliber players at every level of their defense. Tough call.

Is Jerry Jones so committed to "wanting to be right about his guy" that he can't see the glass ceiling above Jason Garrett?

Don't expect too much from the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones no longer does.

KS: This is a complicated issue. Once upon a time, Jerry went through coaches like Kleenex. A lot of overactive owners do that. Take Bud Adams. His track record in Houston made Jerry look positively conservative. But as he aged, he wasn't quite so quick on the trigger. Jeff Fisher coached forever for him. I think the same thing is happening with Jerry and Jason. Jerry's not as active as he used to be, having handed over a lot of duties to Stephen. He also likes Garrett's potential as a head coach. From Monday through Saturday, he's very good. The problem comes on Sundays. Jerry also wants to think that he's hired his Tom Landry. Makes him look good if he hires the right coach and sticks by him. Remember the praise Clint Murchison got for giving Landry a 10-year deal when critics were calling for Landry's head. Here's the problem with that analogy, of course: Landry had significant success by the time he'd been a head coach as long as Garrett. Also, Landry was a genius. He's responsible for innovations on both sides of the ball. Garrett? Not so much. In fact, where Landry led the NFL down new roads, Garrett is trying to run down old ones. Jerry doesn't see that because he always sees what he wants to. An incurable optimist, especially when it serves his purposes.

How do you think the Cowboys would have fared in New Orleans if the playoff game were against the Saints?

KS: Hard to tell. We saw what the Eagles did to the Saints, and if not for that ball flying through Alshon Jeffery's hands, the Eagles had a good shot to win that game. The Cowboys beat the Eagles twice this year, and they beat the Saints the only time they played them. So, I think it's reasonable to believe they'd have had a good chance. On the other hand, they weren't very good on the road this year and the Superdome is a really tough place to play. And that defensive performance against the Rams was inexcusable. Just really hard to have predicted that they would have so much trouble stopping the run.